Then, face twisted in an hideous glare,He comes at her in a run!He seems - axe waving in the air -A sight the very dead might fear;But Maud returns a fiercer stare:And shoots him with her gun!

He stops - and stumbles to the door -Maud shoots him once! - and twice! -He falters - falls down to the floor:Maud steps amongst the blood and gore:He's done for, dead: but to be sureMaud SHOOTS THE BOUNDER THRICE!

When Maud was very young, you see,Her papa took her on his knee,And frowning, said to her:"If e'er a madman come at yeWith axe, or sword, to murder thee,Then take this gun - and ONE - TWO - THREE!You SHOOT the rotten cur!AND KILL THE SCOUNDREL, SIR!

Before I completely forget, I should say, in the context of the poem: I imagine Maud's father was using the language of the time. He probably also saw Maud as the son he didn't have. (Y'know, being constrained by the patriarchal constructs of the time, or something like that? Nah, I don't understand it, either) And Maud doesn't have an 'e' on the end because I didn't imagine her name to have an 'e' on the end. Yeah, it was my poem.